1

Canada goose strikes by month of year, 1990-2009

RICHARD A. DOLBEER, Science Advisor, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, 6100 Columbus Avenue, Sandusky, OH 44870, USA Of the 1,238 strikes involving Canada geese and civil aircraft reported to the FAA from 19902009 (Dolbeer et al. 2010), 46.4% (575) occurred during the months of May-September (Table 1, Fig. 1). The vast majority, if not all, of these strikes, would be by resident (non-migratory) geese. The months of August and September had the greatest number of strikes with Canada geese (346 of the 1,238; 27.9%). The low percentage of strikes occurring in June and July is because the geese have limited movements at this time during molt. We do not know what percentages of the 663 strikes that occurred in January April and October - December were migratory birds and resident birds. However, we can make an informed estimate by examining the relative numbers of migratory and resident geese in the total Canada goose population. From 1990-2009, the resident segment of the population comprised, on average, 64.4% of the total (resident and migratory) population (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 2009; Dolbeer and Seubert 2010). Thus, if we assume that resident and migratory geese are struck in proportion to their abundance during the migratory season, then 64.4% of the 663 strikes (427) during the migratory season would be by resident geese. Thus, if we assume that the 575 strikes occurring in May-September were by resident birds and that 427 (64.4%) of the 663 strikes occurring during the migratory months were resident birds, then 81% (1,002) of the 1,238 reported strikes from 1990-2009 would be by resident birds.

Dolbeer, R. A., and J. L. Seubert. 2010. Canada goose populations and strikes with civil aircraft: encouraging trends for the aviation industry. Special Report, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, Washington, D.C. USA. Dolbeer, R. A., S. E. Wright, J. Weller, and M. J. Begier. 2010. Wildlife strikes to civil aircraft in the United States, 19902009. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Serial Report No. 16 DOT/FAA/AS/00-6 (AAS-310). Washington D.C., USA [In review]. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 2009. Waterfowl population status, 2009. U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. USA. 79 pages.

2 Table 1. The number and percentage of reported Canada goose strikes with civil aircraft by month of the year, USA, 1990-2009 (FAA National Wildlife Strike Database). No. of CAGO strikes 44 60 140 117 132 36 61 161 185 130 96 76 1,238

Month 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

% of total 3.6 4.8 11.3 9.5 10.7 2.9 4.9 13.0 14.9 10.5 7.8 6.1 100.0

Figure 1. The percentage of reported Canada goose strikes with civil aircraft by month of the year, USA, 1990-2009 (FAA National Wildlife Strike Database).

Canada goose strikes from 1990-2009 (N = 1,238)

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Month

% of strikes